The Washington Post’s Philip Kennicott tipped me off this morning to a remarkable report (PDF) prepared by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty about how Sunni insurgents in Iraq are using the Internet and media to get their messages out.
It’s a remarkable report because it documents in detail what appears to be a very high level of PR and propaganda sophistication by these rebels. They use press releases, online weekly and monthly magazines, video clips, full-length films and even TV channels to spread their ideas.
The technological and market sophistication is pretty evident in such things as video mash-ups. One, called the “Top 20,” is a compilation video of attacks on U.S. forces and is the culmination of a competition among foot brigades to produce the most spectacular footage. It’s presented in quick cuts and is designed for the “video game” generation of, well, I guess, insurgents.
The insurgents are producing movies too, which are available in a variety of PC-based and mobile formats using Windows, RealMedia and DivX. My favorite film title: Vengeance Against Those Who Violated the Honor of Our Pure, Free Sisters, which is part of a series entitled The Throbbing Vein to Ward Off the Hatred of the Rejectionists.
The Internet, of course, has made this sophisticated level of communication possible, and has done so in a way that is hard to locate the content producers. The report notes that
For the purposes of media production, it is sufficient to note that Internet communications allow insurgents and their sympathizers to transmit whatever materials they need, from video footage to texts, to wherever they need, to as many people as necessary to produce anything from a press release to an hour-long film. At the same time, the use of Internet technology allows insurgents freedom of movement and anonymity that other media platforms do not.
Cynthia Brumfield at 10:48 AM|Comments(0)
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